Thursday, August 21, 2008

McCain, Obama Halting Voter Attack Ads on Sept. 11

WASHINGTON -- (TYDN) Presidential rivals Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain will halt all attack ads on Sept. 11, an explosive move the contenders said was to pay tribute to the worst act of terrorism on U.S. soil, TheYellowDailyNews has learned.

The candidates, however, pledged late Thursday to continue airing commercials before and after Sept. 11 with voice-overs telling voters "You're a Bigger Loser than McCain if You Vote for Him" and "You're a Bigger Joker than Obama if You Vote for Him."

A CNN-New York Times-Yahoo-AOL-Associated Press poll of 3,000 likely voters showed the November election in a dead heat. "This says a lot about the electorate, and the impact these ads are having on voters," said pollster Germaine Apollo. "I think the electorate can really associate with these ads."

McCain and Obama have been spending several million dollars a day on attack ads -- with each candidate deriding voters and their presidential opponent as being incompetent imbeciles.

It was the first time in U.S. presidential history that the two candidates for president agreed to stop the mudslinging for a day.

"Nine-eleven is not a day for politics," said Brian Rogers, a spokesman for McCain, the Republican candidate from Arizona.

Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for Obama, the Democrat from Illinois, said: "We hope Sept. 11th is a day when Americans come together and reaffirm our resolve to address the common challenges we face together."

The candidates agreed to the historic cease fire when a group of Sept. 11 survivors, whose loved ones were killed in the World Trade Center attack seven years ago, called on the candidates to refrain from partisan campaigning that day. In a letter to both candidates, MyGoodDeed.org founders noted that the country seemed to forget partisan differences in the days after the attacks and were unified by a sense of compassion.

Among other presidential campaign developments:

*Sources told TheYellowDailyNews late Thursday that Obama is expected to unveil a commercial on Friday accusing President Bush and the Republicans of being responsible for the 2001 terror attacks.

*McCain operatives, speaking on condition of anonymity because they have not been authorized to speak publicly, told TheYellowDailyNews that McCain will begin airing ads Friday blaming the Democrats and the press as being responsible for the terror attacks.